Incidentally, von Planta the long-suffering cameraman was also part of both previous projects, so was likely aware of what was in store for him on this trip. McGregor and Boorman have previous travel form (albeit on conventional motorbikes), travelling from London to New York via central Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Canada and the United States on BMW motorbikes for Long Way Round in 2004.Īnd in 2007 they took another motorcycle trip from John o' Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa for Long Way Down (with McGregor's brother Colin and dad Jim also joining in for sections of the journey). Image: The windswept pair mark the end of The Long Way Down in 2007

Laughing, McGregor adds: 'It looked like a float!' 'People on the street would see the bikes, then they'd see Claudio with all this stuff hanging off his motorbike and they loved it!' Worthy sentiments and sustainability aside, there was still an element of 'boys on tour' on this trek, with Swiss cameraman Claudio von Planta bearing the brunt of the japes.īoorman explains one extra-curricular activity that became a regular part of the trip: 'We would sneak out at night or when he wasn't around and we would hang all sorts of stuff off his motorbike that we'd buy in the markets. McGregor explains: 'That network of charges still exists and hopefully will be used by other travellers.'īut he hopes their trip will inspire people in other ways too: 'More than encouraging people to do long adventure trips on electric bikes, it's about just getting people on them in the first place. Indeed, a network of charging points was specifically built along the route from the Southern tip of South America to Los Angeles by project partners Rivian, who travelled behind McGregor and Boorman in two prototype pick-up trucks. Image: Boorman says it's not all about sustainability, but being part of the wave

The way up ewan mcgregor